No two parts of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure are the same. Sure, we’ve been discussing how the series hammers out a format for itself and sticks to that format for the majority of its run and that format is a very important piece of the identity of the series as a whole, but at the end of the day it’s just a meta tool used to help with coherency. By no means is it a recipe for success on its own. The material used to flesh out that skeleton is what pulls people in and keeps them there. Today our trek takes us from Italy in 2001 to Florida in 2011 for the events of the sixth part of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, titled Stone Ocean.
Stone Ocean follows Jotaro’s daughter, Jolyne Cujoh, as she is arrested for a hit-and-run performed by her boyfriend and thrown in Florida’s maximum security Green Dolphin Street Prison. Jolyne sets to finding a way to break out of prison but is soon visited by Jotaro. Jotaro claims that Jolyne was framed for the crime by Jotaro’s enemies in an effort to lure him out. The two are soon attacked by people targeting Jotaro and Jolyne decides against breaking out of prison in favor of remaining to track down her father’s assailants.
Jolyne is one of the most complicated, interesting protagonists in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Jolyne’s surname is often spelled as Cujoh over Kujo, although the reasoning is not clear. One school of thought is that the misspelling is the product of Hirohiko Araki misspelling the surname “Kujo” while translating it to English to fit with the new setting in America, while another idea is that Jolyne purposely spells it incorrectly as a way of distancing herself from her father. Despite carrying the Joestar family blood and exhibiting their trademark honor, Jolyne is a very rude, childish person. A life of delinquency has left Jolyne with very little respect for authority figures and a brutally violent side when confronting people who have wronged her. Despite these thuggish traits, Jolyne is normally a very easygoing extrovert who finds it easy to strike up a conversation, has a healthy interest in sex, and enjoys finding ways to pass the time while stuck in prison.
Jotaro makes another return, this time in his oddest role yet. Jotaro is introduced as a bit of a deadbeat day, which fits his aloof persona quite well and helps paint Jolyne as a sympathetic character through some of her rougher details. Jotaro is is now a marine biologist and is still the same man at his core, although the years continue to chip away at his rough exterior to expose a more tender man within.
The relationship between Jolyne and Jotaro is strained, to say the least. Jolyne’s history of petty crime and rebellion has made Jotaro quick to assume the worst about her, causing Jolyne to have little to no respect for her father. Jotaro as a father is established as very self-centered, caring more about work than his family and not willing to give Jolyne a chance to explain her actions. Jotaro’s introduction in Stone Ocean furthers this even more as he visits his daughter in prison not to check on her well-being but to inform her that her arrest is a tool in a plot against him. This unrest sets the groundwork for an intimate relationship growth as Jolyne can prove that she is not the thug Jotaro sees and Jotaro can come to accept his only child.
Stone Ocean’s featuring of an extroverted protagonist feels like a rarity within JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure due to the most prolific JoJos being stoic, calm badasses. In reality, JoJos are more extroverted than not; Jonathan was a friendly person loved by his peers, Joseph was essentially the funny man of a comedy duo, and Josuke was an excitable high schooler. The idea behind the typical JoJo being a serious person with a humor streak is perpetuated by how two thirds of the previous four hundred chapters of the series have focused on Jotaro and Giorno with Josuke breaking up the monotony.
Jolyne exists in a middle ground between Joseph and Josuke in terms of overall seriousness, leaning heavily towards Joseph. While Josuke had his moments where he was a goofball, that mostly consisted of banter between himself and his friends. Jolyne and Joseph both express the unique trait of being able to play off of characters they interact with in comedic ways, but Joseph was able to routinely extend this into the midst of combat. Jolyne is a more serious fighter, but also finds it easier to approach other characters and initiate these interactions.
Stone Ocean is a very important turning point for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure in regards to the overall narrative of the series. Jolyne may be a sillier protagonist than most, but her existence is to help lessen how seriously the plot takes itself as it begins to gain momentum. The story uses Jolyne’s personality to help mask its tone immediately. Jolyne is arrested for false charges, sent to a prison known for its seclusion from the world, and is attacked by people looking to kill herself and her father. This greatly contrasts Jolyne’s character and the balance between the two helps Stone Ocean feel like a JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure story instead of a television drama.
Every part until Stone Ocean has had some sort of over-the-top fictitious twist to help keep the story from grounding itself too far into reality. From vampires to ancient Aztec men to Dio’s return a century after his demise to a bow and arrow, there have been little details in the plot hooks that keep a small amount of that bizarre feeling within the story right away. Golden Wind is a mafia story that seems grounded except for Giorno’s desire to not just be a mob boss but an extremely flamboyant mob boss due to that special flair the series is known for. Each of these stories includes a specific piece of supernatural JoJo lore immediately at the beginning to help reassure the audience that this is indeed JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
Stone Ocean’s approach feels much different and has a more serious undertone in its introduction. A delinquent teenager with strained family ties getting arrested for a crime she did not commit feels very real. The plot includes a beat between Jolyne’s arrest and Jotaro’s visit to show Jolyne’s reaction to prison life, but that undertone continues through the beat and during the visit with the implication that this will be a prison break story. Jotaro suspects that Jolyne was framed by people looking to assassinate the two of them. This development is a little odd, but by no means bizarre. There is still nothing too out of the ordinary. Character motivations and story elements are all very bare by series standards and stripping away Stands and character names would put Stone Ocean’s setup on par with an action blockbuster.
The bizarre elements begin trickling in once the storyline gains its traction, but the immediate absence of those elements is very telling. As stated previously, Stone Ocean is a turning point for the series and could be argued as being on par if not surpassing Phantom Blood in terms of importance. That importance will be very apparent the next time we take a look at the series. Stone Ocean is in the same boat as Golden Wind where it may get licensed by Viz, but for the time being we stan most fan translators.
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